Google made many announcements yesterday at their Google I/O conference in San Francisco, one of which was about a Google+ redesign! These updates will create a responsive design that will change depending on screen size, or can be automatically customized by the click of a user’s mouse button. We already know that the beauty of many Google products is in their simplicity; it seems that Google will continue in its minimalist path with its new platform updates. As we already see on many other social networks, starting on Twitter, and now Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram, etc., the hashtag will start making an [...]

Google announced yesterday that Google users will have their Gmail, Google+, and Google Drive storage combined into 15 GB of unified cloud storage.  The purpose of creating a unified storage system is to make it more seamless to share and upload files between the 3 Google platforms. While this is not exactly an increase in space – Gmail originally provided 10GB of space while Google+ and Google Drive shared a combined 5GB – it allows you to allocate the space more freely by determining exactly what you would like to use the space for. We’ve mentioned before in one of [...]

In the super fast moving world of PPC marketing one topic is really shaking things up: Google AdWords Enhanced Campaigns. In the beginning of February Google announced the rollout of Enhanced Campaigns. These new “Enhanced” Campaigns have brought so many changes that the SEM blog world has exploded with posts about it. So, why in the heck would we write another post on the topic? I’m actually NOT covering what new features Enhanced Campaigns are bringing. You may already have read articles that cover these changes. Rather, I’m going to introduce some tips and strategies that will help you leverage [...]

OttoPilot’s Alexandra Gibson must have done something wrong in her past life to invoke some bad Google karma. On July 1,  2013, Google will be shutting down her beloved Google Reader in order to consolidate and commit its focus toward other Google projects. In all seriousness, many of us were fans of Google’s feed reader and will be sad to see it go. Luckily, Google is giving us over 4 months to find a worthy RSS feed aggregator alternative. Today I’ve taken the plunge to find the best Google Reader replacement out there, and here is what I have found, along with [...]

When it comes to SEO, businesses often focus on meta data, keywords, and anchor text, but companies should also consider web page loading speeds when optimizing their sites. As the most popular search engine in the world, Google has a lot of influence over how companies run their websites. You’ve probably heard something about Google’s Panda and Penguin search ranking algorithms and how to please them, but how does your page’s load time affect your ranking? Aside from making life easier for your page’s visitors, a faster load time may eventually lead to a higher spot on search engine results. According to the [...]

You probably know about Google’s Panda and Penguin algorithm updates, but what about the Venice update? A few months ago, Google rolled out Venice, which focused largely on local search. Although it’s a bit under the radar, the Venice update is extremely important for local business owners because search queries no longer depend on the searcher for location specific words – it uses the searcher’s IP address to deliver location-based results. There’s no better time to focus on local SEO than now!   What exactly is the Venice update? Released in February, the Venice update changed how Google users search. [...]

Lolz cats may seem like the most important animal of the web, but Panda and Penguin can stop you right in your tracks. These two Google algorithms have cut down hundreds of websites and put them on the lowest pages of Google Search. Panda used to be the algorithm that websites feared, but since Penguin’s release on April 24, 2012, websites have to worry about both. Yet, how do you know which one has limited your web results? They both seem to have the same end result, but knowing which one is stopping you can help you fix the problem [...]

  Online video streaming is evolving, and your business can benefit. Google recently released Hangouts On Air to the public, its newest addition to Google+ that had previously been limited to a select group of companies. Hangouts On Air offers instant and free live video broadcasting to an unlimited number of viewers. This easy to use application can help you connect to potential and existing customers on various levels. Cool, right? Here are a few ways that your business can take advantage of this free software. Instantly broadcast through Google+, YouTube, or your own website. Hangouts On Air offers live video broadcasting through Google+, YouTube, [...]

Just after Google released Google+ Hangouts On Air, OoVoo (a multi-user video chat service) announced that it would be integrating with Facebook to allow free live video chats through an application on the site. Although Facebook will not be purchasing OoVoo as it did Instagram, it may be a good idea. OoVoo will certainly give Facebook an advantage in the video chat arena, as it has already stood successfully on its own.     There are various similarities and differences between the OoVoo app and Google+ Hangouts On Air. Unlike Google’s Hangouts, the OoVoo will be available on all smartphones. Also, [...]

This morning, Mark Zuckerberg rang the Nasdaq bell to announce the initiation of Facebook as a publicly traded company. Analysts argue that Google’s IPO may be the closest tech company comparison to Facebook’s. Today’s Fantastic Friday infographic puts the two online powerhouses head to head and assigns grades. Suffice it to say that while Facebook has the numbers and the impressions, Google still wins hands down in ad efficacy.   What do you think?   Thanks to wordstream for this awesome infographic.   Follow this blog